LA JOLLA, Calif.–   The 19^th ranked UC San Diego Tritons held off a late rally by the visiting SF State Gators and won this evening's conference showdown 76-73 in overtime at RIMAC Arena on the campus of UC San Diego.  Floyd Wormley had a career high 21 points to lead the Gators while Warren Jackson chipped in 15 points and Treaven Duffy added 13 points. 

With the win, the Tritons (20-5, 15-4 CCAA) secured the second seed in next week's CCAA Basketball Championship and will host a First Round game this Tuesday, March 1.  The Gators can finish no higher than the sixth seed and will more than likely be at No. 25 Cal Poly Pomona this coming Tuesday.

SF State will sew up the sixth seed with a win tomorrow night at Cal State San Bernardino or if they end up in a three-way tie with Sonoma State and Cal State L.A.  Sonoma State is at UC San Diego tomorrow evening and Cal State L.A. is at No. 13 Chico State in the final games of the regular season.

"I am proud of our guys as they gave it all they had this evening," said SF State head coach Paul Trevor.  "We battled and fought really hard all the way until the end.  It was an offensive rebound that lead to a 25-footer that sent the game into OT or otherwise we would be 16-9 heading into tomorrow's game at San Bernardino."

An Adam Klie layup gave the Tritons a 14-4 lead, seven minutes into the game.  The Tritons increased that lead to 32-21 with just 70 seconds left in the first half on another Klie lay-up. 

SF State's Wormley hit a three off an assist from Warren Jackson to cut the deficit to single digits (33-26) heading into the locker room for the Gators.

The Gators (15-10, 9-10 CCAA) continued that momentum at the beginning of the second half as they went on a 10-2 run capped by two made free throws by Jon McMurry to cut the Triton lead to 36-35.

UC San Diego came right back and took a 42-35 lead as the hosts went on a 6-0 run capped by a Grant Jackson lay-up.  SF State would not go away as a three by Wormley tied the game at 42-42 at the 13:50 mark of the second stanza.

The Tritons took a 53-47 lead on a three by Anthony Ballestero at the ten minute mark of the second half.  The Tritons held a 55-48 lead with 7:22 left on the clock, but the Gators' defense picked up and they cut the deficit to 55-53.

The hosts followed that with a mini-run of their own (5-0) and took a 60-53 on another trey by Ballestero.  SF State wound no go away as a Jackson lay-up capped a 10-2 run by the Gators and gave them a 63-62 lead with just 85 ticks on the clock.

Two made free throws increased the Gator lead to 65-63 with just 39 seconds left, but Ballestero hit a three off an assist from Grant Jackson off an offensive rebound by Drew Dyer to tie the game at 65-65.  SF State had a chance to win the game, but its jumper hit the front of the rim to send the game into overtime.

This was the second time in six days that the Gators played an overtime game and sixth time this season. 

Grant Jackson hit free throws by give the hosts the early 67-65 lead in the extra session, but Coley Apsay made both of his free throws to tie the game at 67-67 on the Gators' next possession. 

An Aleks Lipovic three gave the Tritons a 73-69 lead with just under two minutes left in overtime, but the Gators battled and cut the deficit to 75-73 on two free throws by Warren Jackson with just 20 seconds left in the first overtime. 

SF State fouled the Tritons on their next possession and Grant Jackson connected on just one of his attempts to give UC San Diego a 76-73 lead.  The Gators had three chances to tie the game and send the game into another five minute period, but all three shots fell short as the Tritons held on for the 76-73 overtime victory.

Besides scoring a career high 21 points, Wormley also made a career high four three-pointers and grabbed 8 rebounds while recording two steals and blocking one shot. 

SF State held the Tritons to 41% shooting from the field including just 34% in the second half.  The Gators also forced 19 turnovers by their hosts.

Chris Hansen paced the Tritons with 27 points and 11 rebounds and was one of four players to score in double digits for UC San Diego.

The Gators will travel to San Bernardino tomorrow evening for a 7:30pm scheduled tip-off with Cal State San Bernardino.  The Coyotes defeated Sonoma State 83-69 this evening in San Bernardino.  Earlier this season in January, SF State defeated Cal State San Bernardino 74-57 in San Francisco. 

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